Major Success

 Some of you may remember Major from earlier posts.  He is a DAD (Diabetes Alert Service Dog) in California that we placed back in January. Right off the bat, he and his partner were working easily together and fast building a relationship. During placement, one of the things we trained him to do was to unlock and open the inside door and the outside screen door.  Our thought was when Marie, Major's handler, had her hands full, he could open the door for her. Another option was in the event of an emergency, Major could open the door for EMTs that might need to get inside. We took a video of Major just after he was trained to open the doors.

 

About a month ago, Marie fell and broke her hip.  This training came in handy as Major was a big help through this.  But enough of us writing. Marie wrote up her testimony and sent it to us. So read on! 

Last month, while picking up the balls and the Chuck It that is

Major's most favorite thing to do, I moved my foot to the left, didn't

lift it up enough, and caught it on a large pebble. I fell, tried to

catch myself, to avoid re-breaking my knee and ankle. I did that, but

broke my hip instead. Since I was out in my gravel driveway in the

country, I had to get back to the house on my own. 

As I started dragging myself to the house, I remembered I had something I didn't

have before, a new companion. His name is Major.  He is a English black

Labrador trained to be a Diabetic Service Dog. But he is turning out

to be so much more!

He nosed open the front gate for me. He then licked me all over the

face every time I stopped. At first I thought it was because he loved

me, but then I realized it was because he was trying to make sure I was

not going to stop or pass out!

We got to the house and he pulled open the front screen door and

helped me push open the front door. He would have gotten my cell phone

for me, but my land line is right by my front door. After calling 911,

I laid down and waited.  After assuring himself I was not passing out,

Major laid down and put his head on my stomach while we waited for

the ambulance. 

When it came, Major barked a little , unlocked the screen door and let them in. He then lay down and hoped for a tummy rub. He followed my transport to the ambulance, climbed in and again

lay down and put his head on my stomach. As we rode to the hospital,

the EMTs were amazed! I kept telling them, "That's my boy!" like a

proud mama. 

At the hospital, he followed quietly along with my bed and

sat quietly next to it when we stopped. My sister Maria

showed up and took Major out potty, where he peed on command. He was

sent home with her, not because he was not allowed to stay, but because I

wasn't able to have someone stay with me full time to take him out to

relieve himself. He got to stay at his litter sister Dropje's house

for the week! Dropje lives around the corner from my sister's.

He now walks carefully along side my walker and knows the words "slow

down" too.

Now, If that wasn't enough for him to do for me, this past Tuesday we

had another adventure. I was driving us to my primary care doctor for

a post surgery check up. On the most curvy part of the trip, my accelerator stuck and my brakes didn't work!

Good thing for my watching detective shows! I put it in neutral, hit

the brakes. Nothing. Did it again. Nothing. Finally, I stood on the

brakes, in neutral, pulled to the right side of the road and figured I

could slow down by side swiping the cement pile-ons. Luckily, the car

slowed some and I was able to shove it into park and turn off the key.

Major kept licking my face from his seat in back of me. I'm sure he

was proud of me and happy to be alive too like I was!!

So, that is the latest in the adventures of Marie and Major.

Hopefully there won't be any more like them......ever!

Major

Major, our almost 7 month male black lab, has been progressing fast in his scent training.  Passionate about food, he loves his training time. Recently, he has begun checking us for the "low" sent.   He will come over to one of his trainers and smell them.  If he finds the scent he will get an excited
expression and begin to paw our thigh.   This checking without being asked is a HUGE part of being a Diabetes Alert Dog (DAD).  The job of a DAD is to constantly be in tune with his diabetic and always on the alert for that "low" scent.  Major's checking in with us often is the beginning of that amazing duty he will one day serve his diabetic.

Recently, our diabetic came up from his room and sat on the couch.  Major jumped up from his "place", went directly to our son and began excitedly smelling him. Then Major alerted him by pawing, just as we have trained him to do.  A quick finger poke revealed that our son's blood sugar was below the safe range.  It was Major's first live alert and a very exciting moment for all.

We are happy to see that Major's training has made sense to him, and he is beginning to apply it practically.   Though he still has a lot of training ahead of him, we are confident he will make an amazing DAD for some fortunate person.

Basic Training Begins

We’re so busy training puppies, that there’s just enough time for the rest of life—cooking, cleaning, and schooling!  But, we have a lot to share that’s transpired in the last month of our puppies’ lives.

We left via Yosemite.

Cody, just outside of Yellowstone.

Three weeks ago, we traveled one thousand miles from California to Wyoming with eleven dogs and six children. That experience has its own blog post in case you missed it.  Needless to say, it was an experience we won’t soon forget!

A pit-stop in Nevada

Since then, we’ve settled into our new location in Cody, Wyoming and hit the ground running!  Basic obedience training began two weeks ago for each of the puppies who were just at the 10 week mark.  It is so rewarding to train a smart dog!  

We have a training rotation in place to rotate all of the future service dogs between our four lead trainers.  This allows each of us to concentrate on one or two dogs each week (depending on the trainer) and really develop a connection with that dog.  Then the next week, we rotate dogs so that each dog is experiencing a different handler and their different training mannerisms.  Although we all as trainers have a consistent method of training, we are each unique in our particular style.  This gives the dogs the opportunity to adjust to different personalities and respond appropriately.

A junior trainer ready for action.

Always ready for training.

As I worked with my charge today, a sweet chocolate male who reminds us of his Papa Bailey, I was quite pleased with how well he had “come”, “sit”, and “down” mastered.  We worked on “stay” and he picked it up so quickly and eagerly.  These dogs are so eager to work and pick up basic obedience readily.  As with child training, consistency and kindness accompanied with firmness are key elements to successful training.

Kindness and Consistency are Key for children and dogs!

Duty Dogs In The News Again

Praise the Lord, we've been written up in the news again.

 

Click here to be directed Sierra News Online's story written by Kellie Flanagan

Jackie

what now?

Say hello to Jackie!  She is our petite, sweet, 14 month old, dark chocolate lab that we acquired from Chilbrook Labradors in West Virginia.  We chose to add her to our breeding program because of her great lineage. Jackie has 13 generations of service dogs in her history!  Her father Ranger, is an amazing dog. Being a champion in nearly every way possible, he is a spectacular dog!


Jackie is being trained as a DAD (Diabetic Alert Dog) service dog.  This training is great for intelligent Jackie, as it gives her a job to do. It also gives her a future as a possible DAD, because we can place her as a DAD when we are finished using her in our breeding program.   This training benefits everyone.  She has also learned helpful tasks such as getting a juice out of the fridge and bringing the blood glucose meter to her handler.

at the dentist

We are very proud of our hardworking agile girl and are looking forward to seeing her puppies in the future!

Bailey and Jackie

   

training

working

Introducing: Duty Dogs

Years ago our 4 year old son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.  Thus our journey into the Diabetic Community began.

Initially, we were shocked and somewhat dismayed at the thoughts of a life with diabetes management playing a central role.  However while at Children's Hospital we quickly realized the fact that our son's disease was manageable.  This was not necessarily the case for many of the boys and girls who watched prone in their beds as he rode around the halls on the hospital tricycle.  I was struck at the understanding that soon we would be taking our son home and many of these children would not return to their earthly homes.  This acquiescence began the process of God building gratefulness in our hearts for our son's condition of insulin dependency and for the tools used to enhance management.  We thank Jesus for the many tools at our disposal helping overcome the challenges this disease presents.

The most unique tool is a K9 monitor, Bailey.  Known as a Diabetic Alert Dog or more accurately a Diabetes Alert Dog.  We are proud breeders and trainers of these wonderful canine assets.  You can see more about our Duty Dogs by going to www.dutydogs.com.  Diabetes alert dogs help diabetics by smelling their changes in blood glucose or blood sugar.  The dogs can be trained to alert on highs or lows.  Thus helping to mitigate the extreme swings that are found in every T1D's life.  Lowering the peaks and raising the valleys of these extremes will help to lower the A1C results, thus lowering the risk of long term complications consistent with the disease.

This can be especially helpful for diabetics who suffer from hypoglycemic unawareness.  This condition causes one to not realize when their blood sugar levels are dropping dangerously low. Type 1 Diabetics who suffer from this condition are often found in need of support from the wonderful servants tied to the 911 services.

We are delighted to train dogs specifically to serve people with this condition.  A diabetes alert dog can help a diabetic return precious liberty and peace of mind back to their life.  These wonderful K9 monitors often allow the trips to the ER to be dramatically reduced for their diabetic handlers.

For more information on the offerings of DAD dogs visit our Duty Dogs website.